HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY

To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.

Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.

THE USAGE PANEL

The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.

Synonyms: habit, practice, custom, wontThese nouns denote patterns of behavior established by continual repetition. Habit applies to a behavior or practice so ingrained that it is often done without conscious thought:"Habit rules the unreflecting herd"(William Wordsworth).Practice denotes an often chosen pattern of individual or group behavior:"You will find it a very good practice always to verify your references, sir"(Martin Joseph Routh).Custom is behavior as established by long practice and especially by accepted conventions:"No written law has ever been more binding than unwritten custom supported by popular opinion"(Carrie Chapman Catt).Wont refers to a customary and distinctive practice:"Miss Roxy sat bolt upright, as was her wont"(Harriet Beecher Stowe).

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

This website is best viewed in Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, or Safari. Some characters in pronunciations and etymologies cannot be displayed properly in Internet Explorer.